1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to beverage containers, and more particularly to a container which normally functions to store a beverage and when empty is then capable of functioning as a play ball.
2. Status of Prior Art
The term beverage, as broadly used herein, includes spring water, juices, sodas and all other drinkable liquids which are normally stored in bottles.
It is now the common practice to bottle mineral water and other beverages in cylindrical containers formed of polyethylene or other liquid-impermeable synthetic plastic film material non-reactive with the beverage stored therein. These plastic bottles include an externally-threaded tubular neck on which is received a screw-on cap that seals the contents.
Because a cylindrical bottle has a flat base, it can be placed on a shelf or table without the need for a support. When a plastic bottle of this type is emptied, it has no further use and is therefore discarded or recycled. And since conventional plastic beverage bottles are devoid of ornament and are purely functional, they are never collected as ornamental or artistic objects.
A conventional playball has a relatively thick rubber casing filled with air to impart pneumatic characteristics to the ball so that it will bounce. As shown in the Casey U.S. Pat. No. 2,324,277 it is known to mold such a rubber ball so as to impart to its outer surface the facial features of a human or animal head, these being defined by shaped recesses in the irregular outer surface.
Rubber balls in large sizes are relatively heavy and difficult for small children to handle. Hence a spherical beach ball whose diameter is about the same as that of a soccer ball is usually fabricated of thin-walled synthetic plastic film material and therefore light in weight.
But plastic bottles for beverages of the type heretofore known are incapable of functioning as playballs, and playballs of the type heretofore known are incapable of functioning as beverage containers.